Posts Tagged ‘Mitt Romney’

Brian’s silence: blinking or unthinking? Usually keen Fox & Friends co-anchor Brian Kilmeade seemed strangely “off his game” this morning as he interviewed former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain about Republican nominee Governor Mitt Romney and the Republican convention. When Cain appeared ready to give him an inside scoop on pre-GOP-convention dirt, Brian bizarrely appeared to ignore it or to be blissfully oblivious thereof.

In a final query of his colloquy today with Cain, Brian asked Cain to tell him about the guy [Romney] that he had run against.* In a pregnant paean to Romney’s personality, Cain replied, “On the campaign trail…he was one of the most likable people….At one point there were nine of us. Okay?” With a mischievous spark in his eye, Cain continued, “Eight of us got along.”

When Cain concluded his answer, saying, “He [Romney] will basically show his likeability and his connectability [sic] tonight in his speech, Brian failed to follow up with the patently obvious question. Instead of asking which GOP candidate did not get along with him and the other seven GOP candidates, Brian oddly concluded, “And, we’ll see what kind of bounce he gets because the President is sitting just around the corner to take that bounce away.”

Romney: We’re gonna talk about aspirations and American ideas. Rove: “Hello?” Putative GOP nominee Mitt Romney was bizarrely interrupted today as he announced his new running mate Rep. Paul Ryan: the unlikely culprit, his Super PAC pal, GOP operative Karl Rove. When Romney was wrapping up his introduction of Ryan as aired on FNC, he said, “We’re gonna talk about aspirations and American ideas: Ironically, immediately, an off-camera Rove says, “Hello? Yes. Fine, how are you?”

Apparently, Rove’s FNC mike was hot and his phone was on during Romney’s oration. After Ryan’s subsequent address and commentary by FNC’s Bret Baier and Britt Hume, Rove appeared as a Fox News election special guest to discuss Romney’s selection of Ryan. But, neither he nor his interviewer Baier mentioned the odd blooper.

Bob: “By the way.” Today, The Five co-host Bob Beckel returned to FNC’s hit show after serving an apparent one-day suspension for calling GOP National Chairmain Reince Preibus a “free…p*ssy” Monday. In an “ad lib” during an “Obama vs. Romney” discussion segment, Bob revealed, “By the way, I talked to the chairman of the Republican National Committee to tell him I was sorry for what I said.”*

“Bob’s Swear Jar”: a Romney contribution? He may be sorry. But, probably, not that sorry.

“Hold on, Mitt: you’re in for a ride!” Today, Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson got her own motor purring as she took racy delight in the sight of Ann Romney taking her man Mitt for a spin on a New Hampshire lake. In the “Shot of the Morning” segment (subtitled “Joy Ride: The Romneys on a Wild Adventure”), the saucy Swedish siren could not quite contain her wilder instints as producers aired pics of Mrs. Romney taking her putative GOP nominee hubby Mitt for a jet ski romp. Perhaps, having her hunky co-anchor Eric Bolling by her side did not exactly help.

As F&F returned for the second half hour of the show this morning, Eric simply narrated how the Romneys were spending their Fourth holiday week as the water-fun photos ran.* Interjecting, co-host Brian Kilmeade commented, “I think the key shot there is Ann Romney’s driving.” Laughing, Gretchen suggestively answered, “I like that!”

Subsequently, when the shot of an exuberant Ann Romney in control as her man Mitt held on for dear life aired (a second time), Gretchen remarked, “Look, she’s gunning it. Hold on, Mitt!” Then, cackling naughtily, she randily remarked, “You’re in for a ride!”

As Eric chuckled at Gretchen’s salacious jest, Brian ignored it and offered his own color commentary, joking, “We got to get ready for the Romney Olympics….They have a bunch of kids and they compete in a bunch of events.” Shaking her head at his slight, a smiling Gretchen replied, “Brian, my jokes just go right over your head. Right?” Trying to come chivalrously to his damsel’s succor, a grinning Eric interposed, “I heard it!”

Looking at Gretchen “innocently,” Brian impishly deadpanned, “What? No, go ahead. What did you say–you’re going for a ride?” Pointing to herself, Gretchen queried, “Did I over, did I over think that?” Beaming, Brian riposted, “Yeah, you over thought that.”

Grinning herself, an undaunted Gretchen laughed, “Okay. Today, Brian and I are going to be on the radio together. ” Arching her eyebrows saucily, she added, “And, it’s going to be nasty!”

Three days ago, Coulter told the credulous F&F co-anchors that Ronald Reagan pulled out of his losing (1976) GOP Presidential campaign early a la Mitt Romney in 2008:* And, she indicated that Rick Santorum should follow suit now. Only problem: Ronald Reagan took his bid to the GOP convention where he narrowly lost on the first vote in a hard-fought floor fight.

Today, Coulter iterated herF&F argument to Red Eye anchor Greg Gutfeld, sidekick Bill Schulz, and RE panelists. Unfortunately, for Coulter, RE‘s fact checker Levy was listening. During Levy’s “Halftime Report,” he asked Coulter about Reagan’s taking his bid all the way to the convention.** Looking dumbfounded, Coulter obfuscated: Instead of vainly defending her erroneous assertion, she muttered that Reagan had convinced a conservative group (CPAC) not to back a third-party candidate and had campaigned for President Ford (and that Romney had exited early). Fortunately, for Coulter, Levy merely pressed her a mite more and compassionately moved on.

Two hours later, Juliet apologized, “I’m sorry that I name called”: ironically, it was not to Ron Paul but to Janeane Garofolo. During the Fox News Sunday promo segment, producers had aired an FNC clip of Cain attributing his Florida straw poll victory to the fact that the “voice of the people is much more powerful than the voice of the media” and that the “message is more powerful than money”: afterwards, Juliet declared, “I have to say something. Remember, when we talked…about a month ago now about what Janeane Garofolo, that dope, was saying about him….It just shows the longer this goes on, the longer he’s able to speak, the more people are really listening to him.” Less than a minute later, she partially expiated, saying, “I’m sorry that I name called. She’s a bad actress.”

Apparently, Ron Paul will still have to wait for his “contrite” apology from Juliet. Even though the Hoboken honey received a reprieve from her fellow Jersey girl, F&FW‘s queen Alisyn Camerota, for calling Paul a “yellow belly,” she may well be pushing her luck. I.e., even though Juliet finds it funny to allude to Paul as “Tutti Frutti,” F&FW‘s Paul fans may not be laughing at her scorn: If not, Aly may be less and less forgiving in the future.

“I like Donald Trump….He’s successful. He’s entertaining.” In a Fox & Friends interview this morning, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty took another shot at GOP presidential co-leader Donald Trump this morning. For the second day in a row, Pawlenty compared Trump (real estate mogul and NBC’s The Apprentice reality star) to Hulk Hogan, (wrestling legend and VH-1’s Hogan Knows Best reality star). No umbrage meant, though.

Today F&F co-anchor Brian Kilmeade asked Pawlenty if an April 9-10 CNN/Opinion Research GOP presidential poll showing him with only 2% support vis-a-vis 19% for front runners Donald Trump and Governor Mike Huckabee was very discouraging to him. In response, Pawlenty declared, “Well, it’s not….In the early months here, you’re gonna see just people who have higher name I.D. doing better in those polls. And, if you threw in, you know, Hulk Hogan or somebody like that, they’d be at the top of the polls, too.”*

In a follow-up question, Kilmeade coolly queried, “Do you put Donald Trump with Hulk Hogan?” Laughing, Pawlenty replied, “No. I just mean in terms of familiarity. I like Donald Trump. I think he’s successful, he entertaining, and he’s gonna bring a lot to the debate…if he runs.”

However, belying Pawlenty’s denial that he was coupling Trump and Hogan together were similar statements that he made last night to Piers Morgan on his eponymous CNN show as reported by Politico. Apparently, using the same talking points, Pawlenty positioned himself as the “serious person who has tackled…[the]…issues” in the middle of a “continuum” with “Mitt Romney…with the most name-ID and money” on one end and people like “Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Donald Trump, or I don’t know, Hulk Hogan” on the other. Like today, he hastily added that he intended “no disrespect.”

“He’s the hero pilot behind the miracle on the Hudson…Captain ‘Silly’ Sullenberger.” As Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Dave Briggs teased an upcoming airline safety segment at the beginning of F&FW, he set the tone for a bigger bungling of the segment by the producers, i.e., a “silly” attempt to rerun the segment in the final hour as if it were new.

Toward the end of the first hour, Dave and Clayton’s interview of Captain “Sully” Sullenberger was excellent (even though Dave unwittingly called the pilot “Silly” Sullenberger anew). Apparently, the producers thought it was, too. So much so, that they ran it again about three hours later—without context.

In the final ten minutes of the program, F&FW returned from commercial break as if it were live. Immediately, without any introduction, the producers began to air the taped interview. As it ran, they even failed to alert their audience with a simple graphic stating that the segment had “previously aired today on Fox & Friends Weekend.” To boot, when the taped interview ended, co-anchor Alisyn Camerota (as if addressing Dave and Clayton directly) said, “Alright. Thanks, guys!”

No thanks, FNC. If F&FW producers are struggling to fill four hours of programming (including ads), it may be understandable to repeat a segment on occasion. However, it not acceptable for them to mislead the audience into thinking that such reruns are original content.

[Author’s aside: In partial defense of the producers, perhaps, they were exceptionally tired in that final hour of the show. Before their bungled second airing of the Sullenberger interview, supra, they had a less egregious gaffe early in that hour. During a story on GOP front runners, they displayed a poll graphic (including GOP candidate photos), mislabeling Mitt Romney “Palin” and Sarah Palin “Romney.” A bit more F&FW “morning joe” needed?]